Some more info for reference on a possible TARS build (like my pal erco is doing over at this thread on and Parallax Forums - Don't know how accurate this is, but it looks pretty good and is from what looks like a movie prop/costume and model builders forum (Replica Props Forum). Link address is on the left side. Drawing is by MrSinistar.

There are other fun items in the thread like created information for the output screens (here) on TARS and CASE.

The link to the the thread post is here. Anyway - here is MrSinistar's "Blueprint" as he calls it.

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

The local Port Townsend School District has embarked upon a curriculum of place-based education. Since we're surrounded by water, a maritime theme is central to this district-wide curriculum. The class I helped with developed some floating ROVs guided by GPS for taking photos of the bay bottom in shallow water. In this video, the Maritime Discovery Initiative is presented and includes footage taken in my class. The students first learned Spin programming using the ActivityBot. Those skills then transferred to programming the Activity Boards in the ROVs. I recommend watching the whole video, but you can skip to the robotics stuff at 4:08.

As Phil says, he helped with the floating ROVs guided by GPS for taking photos of the bay
bottom in shallow water. Another example too of wonderful Parallax products at use in schools teaching a new generation about robotics and robotic exploration! Great work PhiPi and Parallax!

I found this here - http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2ltj9n(Sorry about the advertisements!) This movie and these robots were so good. Thanks to my pal erco for sending me on this exploration! See his TARS in the posts below...here and here.

They called me today concerned about a trademark/copyright conflict with Stanford's Red Sea Robotics Exploratorium (they do actual robotic exploration of the Red Sea and develop the robots to do the work!). I think they thought I had copied Stanford's logo and was using it without permission. I told them the whole story...They are thinking about it...

In the mean time...

I did this - I went to Stanford's graphic standard department and tried to call to ask for permission - the mailbox was full and I could not reach an operator! So, I went to the Red Sea Robotics Exploratorium site and saw that one of the faculty members is Oussama Khatib - who is an amazing roboticist and has some great online courses in robotics! So I wrote him this email...

Dear Professor Khatib,I am an Episcopal priest and amateur roboticist. I have watched with great
interest some of your excellent videos about robotics and learned so much.My weblog is called Robotics Under the Stole and is here
www.roboticsunderthestole.blogspot.comI recently tried to order some long sleeve T shirts from Custom Ink for my
self owned and named company and robotic's club (For me and my friends) red sea
robotics. The logo is below and features red waves and a red "c". (PHOTO IS NOW ABOVE)Custom Ink looked online for copyright violation and is concerned about
Stanford's Red Sea Robotic's Exploratorium and a violation with my logo.The whole story about my logo/name coming from the small town where I
served - Mer Rouge (Louisiana) or red sea in French is here - http://www.roboticsunderthestole.blogspot.com/2015/05/launch-of-red-sea-robotics.html -
along with other info. I first made a sketch of the idea with a red "C" on June
3, 2011 and I do not know if you all had your name first or not or if this is
even a true copyright conflict. I love what you all are doing.My question is how to go about getting written permission to use this logo
of my own design without worrying about a conflict with Stanford. Do you know
who I should ask? Do I need to ask.Custom Ink is deciding if they think it is a conflict based on my
explanation of the design and they may print it anyway - but I am
asking...Thanks for the leadership and educational resources that you and Stanford
provide in this endlessly fascinating field!Thanks for any help you might give me and for your time.All the best,Whit+The
Rev'd T. Whitfield Stodghill, III

Now, the fun begins... Will CustomInk print my shirts - deciding there is no conflict and that the logo is my own design (which it is)? Will I get a response from Stanford or Khatib? Should I offer to send a shirt to Khatib? Does any of this matter? Does anyone but me care? Will all the buzz make demand for the cool T shirt go through the roof?Stay tuned to Robotics Under the Stole for the latest info!

Friday, July 24, 2015

Added these two films to my robotic's movie collection, though I have to say ex machina is much more of an AI movie - the robotics envisioned are "advanced" so much as to be impractical to spark my imagination for real world robotics (as opposed to say Chappie or iRobot, which are a stretch, but rooted more in reality - IMO).

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Eric says on the YouTube post, "TARS robot under construction. Hopefully it will crutch walk. Stay tuned." For those unfamiliar, here is a clip from the movie of TARS in action. It shows TARS and Astronaut Cooper or "Coop," who is played by Matthew McConaughey. Case is another robot in Interstellar. All the robots in the movie are described here, and the links for TARS show the different movements including the "crutch walk."

And here, 'MythBusters' Adam Savage Explains Why Interstellar's TARS Is The Perfect Robot. Adam explains that the plot of the movie left him cold, but that he loved TARS.

Saturday, July 4, 2015

This guy, Clifford Stoll, build a robot to retrieve his Klein Bottles from the crawl space under his Oakland, California home. I was interested in the Robot (which uses Parallax parts) which I saw here.

Then (like you maybe), I asked, "What the heck is a Klein Bottle? That sent me to this video. Warning - This may make your brain hurt! This guy is way too smart. What an interesting character and idea! Great robot too!

Friday, July 3, 2015

As posted previously...In this project, Make Magazine's Jason Poel Smith shows you how to make a universal robot gripper using an ordinary balloon and coffee grounds. Coffee grounds are placed in the balloon. When the balloon is inflated, the coffee grounds are loose and will easily move around an object. But when the air is sucked out of the balloon, the grounds are pulled together and grip the object from all sides. This works because of a process called "jamming": When a granular material such as coffee grounds is compressed, the friction between the grains locks them in place. I may have to make one of these!